I am excited to announce that Reed Photo is now a sponsoring partner of LightAsMagic.com. I have trusted my images to Reed Photo for over 5 years. During that time I have gotten to know both Bob and Betty Reed as well as many of their account reps, printers, and production staff. I have found that throughout the organization, each member of the Reed Photo team is just as committed to your images as you are. They do an exceptional job and that is why Reed Photo is my exclusive printing partner. Reed Photo is a full service lab located here in Denver Co offering services to photographers around the world. If you are in need of lab services ranging from LightJet digital printing to an array of professional film processing and developing please contact the fine folks at Reed Photo to see how they can help you. They also operate one of the premier galleries in Colorado. If you are in the Denver area, make sure to stop by for a healthy dose of inspiration.

You can find them on the web here:

• http://www.reedphoto.com/
• http://www.gallerymount.com
• http://www.reedphotoart.com

Stay tuned for details about signed prints for sale, as well as, a spring show that is just around the corner.

I’m going to go ahead and classify this image as ‘forward-recon’. I have been meaning to get down to the Gates Rubber facility knowing that it would offer some interesting subject matter. The traffic and weather weren’t very cooperative tonight, so I am planning on another trip. It will be either earlier in the morning, or later in the year. The sun needs to venture a bit further into the northern hemisphere for my vision. Until then, here is a preview from the scouting mission. Hopefully I can make it back before it is cleaned up…..I think I have plenty of time.

Capture Notes:

Nikon D300
Nikkor 16-85 VRII
Gitzo Traveler

Aperture: f/5.3
Focal Length: 65 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Nikon D300
Nikkor 16-85 VR II
Gitzo Traveler

Processing Notes:

Capture (5 Images)
Photomatix (HDR/Tonemapping)
NIK Color EFX Pro (ProContrast – Color correction)
NIK Color EFX Pro (Tonal Contrast – Desaturate and mid tone/shadow textures)
Photohop (Saturation/Vibrance selective to graffiti)
Photohop (Resize for web)
NIK Sharpener (Display 30% adaptive 60% output strength)
LightAsMagic.com

If I were to ever record an album, I think I would use this image as the cover art. In college, when my band recorded a demo, the cover art was nothing more than contact information. Obviously my rock n’ roll fantasy didn’t work out. It sounds cliche, however my band fell victim to ‘creative differences’. I think we would have been a great band. I doubt we would have headlined a stadium rock show…..without question we would have opened for someone headlining a stadium rock show. Anyways, I added a page to the site where you can check out monthly playlists I have created to spread the word about bands I would have loved to open for. Click here to take a listen.

Capture Notes:
Nikon D300
Nikkor 16-85 VR II

Exposure: 1/4000 sec
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 85 mm

Processing Notes:

Capture
NIK Silver EFX Pro
NIK Color EFX Pro (Color Stylizer)
Photoshop (Resize for web)
LightAsMagic.com

I believe great images lurk right outside your door. You don’t have to travel far to find beauty and interest. I spend my summer days running by this tree and I knew northern clouds would compliment it beautifully. This afternoon the clouds were building in the north, but the sky remained a brilliant blue. I knew this would be the time to visit my running partner. It just so happened to be the end of a year!

Nikon D300
Tokina 11-16
Gitzo Traveler

Capture Notes:

Aperture: f/22.0
Focal Length: 11 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Processing Notes:

Capture (8 images)
Photomatix (HDR/Tonemapping)
Photoshop (Curve adjustment)
NIK Color EFX Pro (Tonal Contrast)
NIK Color EFX Pro (Brilliance/Warmth)
Photoshop (Crop to 4×5)
Photoshop (Size for web)
LightAsMagic.com

After an arduous day of car shopping, we decided to take a quick break from wheelin’ and dealin’….I don’t think the sales guy wanted us to leave, but my wife made it pretty clear we were going to. Just down the road, we found this great old silo. It towered above the suburban sprawl that surrounded it. You felt he had stories to tell. Hopefully, I was able to help him tell it.

In the video below, we grant the Tin Man’s wish and give him a heart using Photomatix and NIK Define 2.0, Color EFX Pro, and Viveza 2.

Note: Email subscribers will need to visit the site to watch the video.

Capture Notes:

Nikon D300
Nikkor 16-85 VR II
Gitzo Traveler

Aperture: f/16.0
Focal Length: 16 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Processing Notes:

Capture (9 images)
NX2 (Raw –> TIFF conversion)
NIK Define 2.0 (Automatic entire image)
Photoshop (Global Curves adjustment)
NIK Color EFX Pro (Tonal Contrast selective to the silo)
NIK Color EFX Pro (Brilliance/Warmth selective to sky)
NIK Viveza 2 (Brighten to of the silo)
NIK Viveza 2 (Saturation and structure boost to sky)
Photoshop (Size for web)
NIK Sharpen (Display 40% output)
LightAsMagic.com

Processing Video:

We had front row seats on the roof of our hotel in Cozumel for this one! Most of the time I leave sunsets in color, in all their glory. However, because of the smaller clouds dancing in the foreground I decided the contrasts would make a nice black and white composition.

Capture Notes:

Nikon D300
Nikkor 70-300 VR AFS
Singh-Ray 3stop Reverse GND
Gitzo Traveler

Exposure: 0.033 sec (1/30)
Aperture: f/11.0
Focal Length: 300 mm

Processing Notes:

Capture (1 image)
NIK Silver EFX Pro (B+W Conversion)
NIK Viveza 2 (enhance the glow of the sun on the sea)
Photoshop (resized for web)
LightAsMagic.com

Tip: It might seem counter intuitive to shoot sunsets with a long focal length, but it is a great way to get up and close and personal with a setting sun. I always carry a 70-300 with me while traveling.

A warm day today, in a rather long and disheartening winter. It might be too early to get excited, but I can’t help it. This winter has been tough on the people who love long days and flip flops. Apparently we set a record.

This image is one from last spring. It is a single exposure HDR. Normally I have great results, however because I was shooting at 800 ISO the processing introduced some noise. You can see it if you look close. Hopefully soon I will have the chance to make another image like this one. Bulb season isn’t too far off!

Recently, I published the toolset within my darkroom. I also published a list of tunes I listen to while I am clicking, sliding, dragging and dropping my way to victory. I had so much fun making that playlist, I have decided to publish one every month. So, without further ado (sp?)……here is the myTunes playlist for the month of March! Just click the link below.
(Note: You will need iTunes installed on your machine to access it.)

March 2010 LightAsMagic.com myTunes Dark Room Victory Songs

Capture Notes:

Nikon D300
Nikkor 105 2.8 AFS VR Micro

Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1000)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 800

Processing Notes:

Capture (1 Image)
Photomatix (pseudo hdr)
PS (color corrected)
NIk ColorFX Pro (selective tonal contrast on main flower)
Nik Define 2.0 (brushed noise reduction on fence)
LightAsMagic.com

In all her glory!

Yesterday I had a good buddy email me complaining that he hadn’t received his ‘Zen moment of the day’. He subscribes by email, and expects to have a photo and story in his in-box every morning when he wakes up. You can subscribe by email too. Learn how here.

I try to get images and stories out as often as I can. Occasionally I succeed at getting them out 7 days a week. This week I failed. However, this time it was for good reason (especially if you are in the middle of making a tripod purchase decision). I just added a ‘reviews’ section to the site, and the first thing I reviewed was my favorite support system. Actually, second favorite…friends and family are my first favorite.

You can check it out here:

http://www.lightasmagic.com/reviews/gitzo-traveler-markins-q3t/

More Zen moments soon….stay tuned!

An astronaut with a day off from space walks, research, and mission tasks might want to take a break from the daily regiment of Tang to enjoy a nice pinot or cab with their protein paste. A quick trip to the wine cellar module on the International Space Station could provide such luxuries to our orbiting scientists. Although currently not available, or scheduled for production, a wine cellar would be a nice addition to the space based bed and breakfast. However, if there were such a thing, I believe this might be the wine cellar they would visit.

As a bit of an impressionist I commonly take creative liberties to realize my vision. Feel free to watch the video below to see how I use Photomatix 3.2 and a couple of NIK filters to build a wine cellar suitable for international space travel.

Capture Notes:
Nikon D300
Nikkor 16-85 VRII
Gitzo Traveler
Markin Q3T ball head

Aperture: f/16.0
Focal Length: 16 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Processing Notes:
Capture (7 images)
NX2 (Raw Conversion)
Photomatix (HDR/Tonemapping)
NIK Define 2.0 (Noise reduction)
Photoshop (Curves adjustment – global contrast/color correction)
Nik Color EFX Pro (Glamour glow – desaturate)
NIK Color EFX Pro (Tonal Contrast)
Photoshop (size for web)
NIK Sharpener (Display adaptive 35% selectively applied to the wine bottles)
LightAsMagic.com

…or, if you have time, you can just watch the video (length: about 10mins).

To find out more about NIK Software and their suite of filters visit their website at:

http://www.niksoftware.com/

To find out more about Photomatix 3.2 visit HDRSoft’s website at:

http://www.hdrsoft.com/

You can use the coupon code LIGHTASMAGIC to receive a 15% discount on Photomatix

Just a quick note to the CO photographers out there that the Illuminate Workshops evening photo walk has been scheduled for March 13th. It is a great way to spend a Saturday evening. As a reminder to myself, charge your (my) batteries!

Jump on over to their website for the details.

www.illuminateworkshops.com